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Iowa high court OKs same-sex parents on birth certificate

DES MOINES, Iowa — Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Justices ruled 6-0 to require that the Iowa Department of Public Health begin listing both married parents on a newborn child's birth certificate despite state concerns that biological-based parenting rights would be cast aside if a Des Moines lesbian were allowed to establish paternity of her child.

The opinion, authored by Justice David Wiggins, brushes aside state government arguments that Iowa's interest in "the accuracy of birth certificates, the efficiency and effectiveness of government administration, and the determination of paternity" require that the state hue to biological definitions in recording a child's parentage.

Friday's ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by Melissa and Heather Gartner after the state refused in 2009 to list both of their names on the birth certificate of their daughter, Mackenzie. Heather had given birth to the baby conceived via sperm donor.

Iowa now keeps no records of biological parentage in cases where heterosexual couples use anonymous sperm donors, the court said. And state records would not be more accurate by requiring, as Iowa health officials until now have insisted, that nonbirthing mothers go through an adoption process.

"It is important for our laws to recognize that married lesbian couples who have children enjoy the same benefits and burdens as married opposite-sex couples who have children," the opinion said. "By naming the nonbirthing spouse on the birth certificate of a married lesbian couple's child, the child is ensured support from that parent and the parent establishes fundamental legal rights at the moment of birth. Therefore, the only explanation for not listing the nonbirthing lesbian spouse on the birth certificate is stereotype or prejudice."

Polk County District Judge Eliza Ovrom ruled in the couple's favor in January 2012, finding that the state had failed to properly follow the 2009 court case that legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa.

Iowa law says that if a woman is married, the husband must be legally deemed the father unless a court order states otherwise.

Ovrom, while then declining to find that any constitutional rights had been violated, said Iowa administrators were bound by 2009's Varnum v. Brien to interpret laws in a way that gives "full access to the institution of marriage."

"Pursuant to Varnum v. Brien, where a married woman gives birth to a baby conceived through use of an anonymous sperm donor, the Department of Public Health should place her same-sex spouse's name on the child's birth certificate without requiring the spouse to go through an adoption proceeding," Ovrom ruled. "Petitioners have proven the Department's actions are in violation of law and based on an erroneous interpretation of the law."

The state had contended that the Varnum decision shouldn't apply to an area such as birth certificates, where biological differences provide a solid basis for Iowa to treat same- and different-gendered couples differently.

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Heather Adams argued during a 2011 court hearing that gender-specific parenting rights make it legally impossible to replace a "husband" with a same-sex "spouse."

"If I had to summarize the department's case in one sentence, it would be this: It is a biological impossibility for a woman to ever legally establish paternity of a child," Adams said.